Trusting Your Shepherd So That You Do Not Want

I just started reading a book written in 1953 by a man named Charles L. Allen, who was a Methodist minister. It is called God’s Psychiatry and it is a look at how God’s Word is the medicine we need for what ails our minds and our souls. It begins by prescribing the 23^rd Psalm as a medicine for worry and anxiety. Most of us suffer in one way or another in this area.

Think about the beginning of the 23^rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

We say we trust Jesus to be our savior and we put our entire future in eternity in His hands, yet we worry and fret over things in this life. The Bible is full of promises to those who are under the lordship of Jesus. Take careful note of the first words of this Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd.

Few of us today understand the work of a shepherd. A shepherd watches over the sheep and he provides for every need they have. Without the shepherd the sheep would perish. There are many dangers for the sheep. They need water. They need food. They need protection from the wolf. Without a shepherd the sheep will wander away from all the life sustaining aspects of their existence. But the shepherd keeps them safe and fed.

So if the Lord is your shepherd you do not need to worry over anything that threatens you. You can say with surety “I shall not want.” Jesus not only promises to provide everything we need, He even tells us that God knows what we need even before we ask in Matthew 6:8 saying, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

The problem with us in being able to let this promise remove our anxiety and worry is that we fail to understand the words “I shall not want?

We think it means we get whatever we desire to have in our lives. That is not what the verse means. The Hebrew word used here in verse one means to lack or be in need of. So to paraphrase the verse it really says The Lord is my shepherd so I will never lack what I need to live out my life. The ramifications of this are radical. This means when cancer strikes we can trust God. We still have what we need. It means when our job is shipped to a foreign country we can trust God. We still have what we need. It means when a loved one dies we can trust God. We still have what we need. We shall not want.

It means since God is in control of my life as my shepherd and He has allowed something in my life I don’t like to happen it is because He says I need it. Romans 8:28 explains this by saying, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” All things. Not some, not many, but all things. God does not cause evil to happen but He allows it and He uses it according to His purposes. You may not understand His purposes but you can trust Him in them. If we trust God then there really is no reason to fret and worry.

The question we must ask ourselves is this; do we really trust God? Is our faith what we say it is? The psalmist is clear. The Lord IS my shepherd. Because He is then I have everything thing I need and I can trust that if I simply follow Him He will lead me to safety and He will provide what I need when I need it.

This truth does not supersede our need to pray and to petition God. Scripture is clear on prayer. God’s wants us to come to Him and ask. The Bible teaches us to ask and tells us God is our Father who wants to give us good things. We are instructed in the Bible to be persistent in prayer. But we must develop a deep relationship with God through prayer that leads us to a place where we hear from Him and we are able to discern His voice when He says no. The way to have that type of relationship is to read His Word, ask the Holy Spirit to be your teacher, and then spend time alone with God in prayer. Then we will better know God’s will and begin to allow it to become our will.

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Make this verse real in your life. Believe it. To want something that God does not want us to have is to covet and sometimes becomes idolatrous. He knows what we need and He promises to provide it. Sometimes we simply need the strength to bear up under the storms we are in. That strength comes from God.

The Lord is my shepherd. This is important. It is important because we need a shepherd. We tend to wander off on our own. Jesus will not let His sheep get lost or be harmed. Being harmed and suffering some pain is not the same thing to the Christian. Suffering is part of being a Christian. It will draw you closer to God or you will move away from Him.

Listen to the parable Jesus tells.

Luke 15:4-7
"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?  "When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'  "I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Maybe you’ve wandered away from your shepherd and sought your own path. If so, stop right now and call out for your shepherd. Then wait on Him. He is going to come get you and carry you on His shoulders. He will give you everything you are in want of. He knows what you need. But the path to your needs may require travel through difficult territory. Your Shepherd will lead you to safety. We will see that in the rest of the psalm.

The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want.

Is He your shepherd? Then relax. You shall not want.